Be a pest.

When you notice that something in wrong on your bank statement or credit card statement, politely ask for an inquiry. Sometimes you may have to ask twice but ti will work. Two months ago I found fraudulent charges on a credit card statement, then I found double billing from a company I actually placed an order with. The fraudulent charges, I had to place an inquiry twice, but while the charges were being investigated, I didn’t have to pay interest on those and checked frequently to see how the status of the inquiry was going.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Persistence pays off, but politeness along with assertiveness helps. An overly aggressive person can escalate a situation and make it difficult to get someone to help you.

Assertiveness and aggressiveness are two sides of the same coin but can evoke reactions from different ends of the spectrum. A polite assertive person might be able to get a situation rectified in their favor. An aggressive person who seems to be a bully or boorish (think ugly American) may not be able to have a situation resolved in their favor.

Assertive behavior also deals directly with the person or company that can resolve the issue. You may feel aggravated by having to repeat a situation but by maintaining a pleasant demeanor and you will be able to have your situation resolved. Recent situations where people called 911 because of problems in fast food restaurants or other retailers indicates that shoppers weren’t using assertiveness, they were being aggressive.

Complain to the right person. Generally, the cashier or first person you speak to isn’t the person who can help you, if you have a serious issue. Ask to speak to a supervisor. Keep asking until you get the right person to help you. When calling on the phone, take notes including the time you called, and the name of the representative. Ask for what you want – a refund, a repair, a new item. You may not get it but by asking politely, you are closer to getting what you want than if you are aggressive and get angry quickly.

Telling your problem to someone who cannot help you, such as on an anonymous complaint site does nothing to resolve your problem. Using the sites will help warn others of potential problems, but many situations are different.

But by the spring of 2008, the financial world seemed to be coming undone, unemployment was rising, and among the fashionistas, cheap was the new black. [Lew] Frankfort and his executives reconsidered. They agreed it was time to create a more “youthful energy” for the brand. “This was an attitude we felt we were missing,” says Frankfort.

Higher end companies and brands are lowering prices to attract customers. Coach has announced a new line of products that cost less, so has J. Crew and Vera Wang. The items are still costly but  seemingly more affordable.

At a certain point, there is a price threshold that demands more. When you spend $200 for a television set you have a certain set of expectations, but when you spend $1000 or $2000 for a television set there are a different set of expectations. The same applies when you are buying an item that is not a necessity.

Cheap can be a pejorative term. Buying a fashion item cheap is equated in my mind with a fad or a trend. Just because something is popular now doesn’t mean that it will always be fashionable. Spending a small amount of money on something that you may use for a short time because it is cheap is generally wasteful. There are exceptions to this rule, but when it comes to spending upwards of $200 or $300 on an item, for most people this amount makes people pause.

If companies are lowering the cost of the items they are selling in order to gain more customers, is it possible that the prices were too exorbitant to begin with?  A person who might not blanch at spending $300 for a handbag may have difficulty spending $1000 for a handbag, or have greater expectations. At $300, will the style be fashionable in two years?  What if you find an item that will be fashionable, but not trendy that costs $450 is that a better investment? Maybe investment would be a difficult term to use but a well-crafted durable item that will still be in style after a few months is definitely worth the price.

The inclement weather has made me think of being prepared for bad weather. Make sure that you have a radio that will work on batteries or one that you can wind up.

Also, have an alarm clock that runs on batteries will also help you just in case the power goes out. Pay attention to the weather forecast, even travel on public transportation may take a lot longer or may be disrupted.

Food? If the power goes out, don’t open the refrigerator, the food that is in there will stay cool for a few hours. You still need to eat right? When the microwave doesn’t work because the power is out, make sure you have some shelf stable food that doesn’t need to be heated such as granola bars.
Pouches of precooked food that can be heated in the microwave or in boiling water may be eaten at room temperature. Having a couple of those would be good just in case the power is off.

Have candles but remember don’t leave them unattended in a room.

Keep your cell phone charged so that when the power does go out you would still be able to have an open line of communication.

If you are delinquent on your credit card bill, it may not be Monty Hall calling to make a deal, it may be your credit card company.

The delinquency rate on credit cards has risen, as have calls from credit card companies to people with high balances. Companies are trying to make deals with people in order to get something rather than nothing.

Even with settling for less than the entire amount, there are still high balances around.

“Revolving credit, a close approximation of credit card debt, totaled $939.6 billion in March. The Federal Reserve reported that 6.5 percent of credit card debt was at least 30 days past due in the first quarter, the highest percentage since it began tracking the number in 1991. The amount being written off was also at peak levels.”

Credit brings a different dimension to this recession.  The unemployed and under-employed do not have as much to lose. When you aren’t making any money, your wages can’t be garnisheered. This does not mean forgoing payment. Although no one can say, yet, how taking a deal from a credit card company will affect your future credit or credit score.

This video tells the story of a woman who did the right thing by paying her mortgage but her house was being sold because the title was listed as someone else’s. Going through the proper channels she had no recourse so she and her husband had to hire a lawyer to straighten things out.

Keeping a paper trail is important especially in the digital file age. Check your records regularly to see if your payment is going to your account. Also have a recent paper copy of your payments in case something goes wrong.

Houses may also be sold for taxes, or pose problems when refinancing if the taxes are not paid. A Chicago area company was taking payments for property taxes and insurance but hadn’t been using the money to pay their customers taxes or insurance.

If people have a record of their payments to the company then they might have some recourse especially if they have cancelled checks. In Illinois, the attorney general’s office is looking into customer complaints by many people who say the company took their money but did not pay the taxes with the escrow money collected.

For payments that are being held in escrow, it is still important to check and see if your payment is being directed to the right place. Check your tax and insurance records to see if everything is being paid on time. Don’t trust that a company is doing the right thing because of the name. Human error also happens. Be watchful and pay attention to payments.